Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
Jezebel’s Letter about Naboth
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived in the same town with Naboth. In the letters she wrote as follows:…
The Descendants of Adam and the Genealogies of the Israelite Tribes
Adam, Seth, Enosh; Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons…
Virtues That Merit Being in God’s Presence
A psalm of David.
Lord, who may sojourn in Your tent,
who may dwell on Your holy mountain?
He who lives without blame,
who does what is right,
and in his heart acknowledges the truth;
whose tongue…
Lifelong Torah Learning
Mishnah Avot 5:21 defines a lifetime of Torah study, linking each stage of life to learning and making study the essence of Jewish living.
Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II
Meanwhile Alexandra fell ill, and her younger son Aristobulus seized the opportunity. With all his many friends—all won over to his cause by his dashing nature—he took control of all the fortresses…
Renovation of the Temple
In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Herod, after the acts recorded above, he undertook a very great task, namely the renovation of the Temple of God at his own expense. He both expanded it and…
Pilate Imports Standards to Jerusalem
Pilate was sent by Tiberius to Judaea as procurator, and in a covert operation at night he smuggled into Jerusalem under wraps those portrait plaques of the emperor which are called standards. When…
A Thwarted Plot to Surrender to the Romans
[Matthias] had given Simon his possession of the city, and yet Simon had him not only killed but tortured as well. Matthias was the son of Boethus, a member of a high-priestly family, and absolutely…
Jewish Unrest and Its Suppression in Alexandria and Cyrene
With Masada thus captured, the Roman general left a garrison in the fortress and went back with his army to Caesarea. By now there were no enemies left in the land, and the whole…
Origen’s Challenge to the Patriarch’s Authority
But what, then, is to be said of this, that the prophets had foretold beforehand of him that Rulers will not cease from Judah, nor leaders from his loins, until he should come, for whom it is reserved…
Judaism as the Demonic Opposite of Zoroastrianism
He made the Torah, the fundamental book of Judaism, and built Jerusalem in order to keep [the Torah?] in it. Dahāg first came to Abraham, the chief of the Jews, and from Abraham to Moses, whose bond…
Hasmonean Victory and Hanukkah
What is Hanukkah? Our rabbis taught that on the twenty-fifth of Kislev [begin] the days of Hanukkah [lit., “dedication”], which are eight. One should not eulogize during them nor fast during them…